Dansby Swanson had his first career multi homer game while Kevin Gausman turned in another outstanding performance on the mound to help the Atlanta Braves defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1.
Gausman matched up against Pirates’ starter Ivan Nova and threw up zeros until the fifth when the Braves finally broke through. Kurt Suzuki hit a one-out single and then came home when Swanson jumped on an inside fastball and drove it out to left to put Atlanta in front 2-0.
The Braves broke the game open in the seventh as they scored three more times. Ozzie Albies singled with one out and came around to score on a double by Suzuki. That set up Swanson again who this time jumped on a hanging breaking ball for his 12th home run of the season to make the score 5-0.
Atlanta would tack on another run in the ninth when Tyler Flowers scored on a wild pitch by Pirates’ reliever Clay Holmes. Pittsburgh finally got on the board in the bottom half of the inning when Gregory Polanco homered off of reliever Chad Sobotka.
Operating with an extra day of rest but with a short bullpen, Gausman came up huge for the Braves allowing just four hits while striking out five over eight shutout innings. He has made four starts in an Atlanta uniform and has allowed a total of six runs in 27 innings.
Swanson and Suzuki combined for four of Atlanta’s eight hits on the evening. The only damper on the Braves’ evening came in the ninth when Suzuki was hit on the elbow by a pitch. He laid on the ground for a few moments before being helped off the field. An update on his status will likely come after the game.
With the win, Atlanta moves to 2-0 on their current road trip and will go for a three-game sweep on Wednesday when they wrap up the series.